WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.350 --> 00:00:02.590 Obviously, it's not a great time for graduates 2 00:00:02.590 --> 00:00:04.900 to be looking for jobs at the moment. 3 00:00:04.900 --> 00:00:08.290 And many of my students are coming in asking advice. 4 00:00:08.290 --> 00:00:11.263 And the first thing I say to them is be creative. 5 00:00:12.310 --> 00:00:14.290 But they look at me with sort of a blank sort of stare, 6 00:00:14.290 --> 00:00:17.100 what's creativity got to do with getting jobs? 7 00:00:17.100 --> 00:00:18.220 So I tell them a story. 8 00:00:18.220 --> 00:00:21.773 I tell them a story actually about me in 1983. 9 00:00:22.860 --> 00:00:24.730 There was a big recession in Australia at the time, 10 00:00:24.730 --> 00:00:25.860 not unlike the US, 11 00:00:25.860 --> 00:00:28.860 and very few of the graduates were finding jobs. 12 00:00:28.860 --> 00:00:30.860 But I was a marketing major, and so I said to myself, 13 00:00:30.860 --> 00:00:32.440 well if I can't market myself, 14 00:00:32.440 --> 00:00:35.047 how can I market anything else? 15 00:00:35.047 --> 00:00:37.430 And so what was everyone else doing? 16 00:00:37.430 --> 00:00:39.520 They were reading the newspaper looking for jobs, 17 00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:41.550 they were looking at the college notice boards 18 00:00:41.550 --> 00:00:43.370 looking for jobs. So I said, 19 00:00:43.370 --> 00:00:44.920 well why couldn't I do the reverse? 20 00:00:44.920 --> 00:00:48.820 Why couldn't I put an ad about myself into a newspaper 21 00:00:48.820 --> 00:00:49.693 or magazine? 22 00:00:50.710 --> 00:00:51.810 So where did I want to work? 23 00:00:51.810 --> 00:00:53.630 I wanted a marketing job. 24 00:00:53.630 --> 00:00:54.860 So what do marketers read? 25 00:00:54.860 --> 00:00:56.560 There's this magazine called "Marketing World", 26 00:00:56.560 --> 00:00:59.147 so I called them up and I said, "I have no money, 27 00:00:59.147 --> 00:01:01.530 I'm a student, but I'd like to put an ad in your magazine." 28 00:01:01.530 --> 00:01:03.050 And they liked the idea. 29 00:01:03.050 --> 00:01:04.677 So they said, "Okay, $500, 30 00:01:04.677 --> 00:01:08.497 and if you can insert 10,000 of these publications, 31 00:01:08.497 --> 00:01:11.000 we'll ship it out for you." 32 00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:13.720 So I produced this full-page flyer, 33 00:01:13.720 --> 00:01:15.910 said "Have Degree, Will Travel." 34 00:01:15.910 --> 00:01:17.560 It said, "I am good on the end of a broom, 35 00:01:17.560 --> 00:01:18.850 I make a great cup of coffee 36 00:01:18.850 --> 00:01:20.810 and I learned to touch type in under eight hours. 37 00:01:20.810 --> 00:01:22.650 But seriously, I have a marketing degree, 38 00:01:22.650 --> 00:01:25.173 here's my phone number, give me a call." 39 00:01:26.060 --> 00:01:27.750 So the magazine wanted to get some press 40 00:01:27.750 --> 00:01:30.610 for their monthly addition, and so they sent it 41 00:01:30.610 --> 00:01:31.910 to the newspapers. 42 00:01:31.910 --> 00:01:34.320 And so there, this big yellow flyer fell on the lap 43 00:01:34.320 --> 00:01:36.267 of a journalist who called me up and said, 44 00:01:36.267 --> 00:01:39.200 "Can I come and interview you about your job search?" 45 00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:40.870 So he came around and he took a photo of me 46 00:01:40.870 --> 00:01:43.160 with a cup of coffee and over a typewriter, 47 00:01:43.160 --> 00:01:47.433 and put an ad about six by nine in the newspaper. 48 00:01:48.430 --> 00:01:51.340 Well, then it came out, and then other newspapers 49 00:01:51.340 --> 00:01:54.380 around Australia published it. 50 00:01:54.380 --> 00:01:56.727 And the radio stations called up and said, 51 00:01:56.727 --> 00:01:58.440 "We'd like to interview you." 52 00:01:58.440 --> 00:02:02.160 So within two weeks, I had 40 job offers. 53 00:02:02.160 --> 00:02:03.450 I was incredibly lucky. 54 00:02:03.450 --> 00:02:05.010 I was lucky enough that actually I could help 55 00:02:05.010 --> 00:02:08.860 others in my class also get jobs. 56 00:02:08.860 --> 00:02:11.310 Now, it doesn't always work out that way, 57 00:02:11.310 --> 00:02:13.810 but I think creatively, creativity does pay off. 58 00:02:13.810 --> 00:02:18.790 I did my application to MBA school as a cookbook, 59 00:02:18.790 --> 00:02:22.810 where each chapter was actually a recipe towards it. 60 00:02:22.810 --> 00:02:24.903 So creativity pays off. 61 00:02:25.800 --> 00:02:28.410 The second tip I'm suggesting to my students 62 00:02:28.410 --> 00:02:31.500 is to open their aperture to the jobs they're looking for. 63 00:02:31.500 --> 00:02:34.270 A lot of graduates come out with a very specific niche 64 00:02:34.270 --> 00:02:36.160 of the job they're looking for. 65 00:02:36.160 --> 00:02:38.630 Well, now, you should have four of five of those 66 00:02:38.630 --> 00:02:40.030 so that you can play them off. 67 00:02:40.030 --> 00:02:42.000 You need to look at variety. 68 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:42.837 Now, the nice thing about that 69 00:02:42.837 --> 00:02:45.690 is I found, actually, that senior leaders are best 70 00:02:45.690 --> 00:02:47.250 when they've had a great deal of variety. 71 00:02:47.250 --> 00:02:49.320 So start with something that may not be perfect, 72 00:02:49.320 --> 00:02:51.730 and then later on, maybe you can jump into that 73 00:02:51.730 --> 00:02:54.440 and you'll have experiences under your belt. 74 00:02:54.440 --> 00:02:56.680 The third suggestion is sort of an obvious one, 75 00:02:56.680 --> 00:02:58.560 which is go where the jobs are. 76 00:02:58.560 --> 00:02:59.957 It's like the old expression, 77 00:02:59.957 --> 00:03:01.527 "Why do people rob banks? 78 00:03:01.527 --> 00:03:03.170 "Well, that's where the money is." 79 00:03:03.170 --> 00:03:05.600 Go to the jobs, the companies where the jobs 80 00:03:05.600 --> 00:03:06.433 are likely to be. 81 00:03:06.433 --> 00:03:09.480 Look, there's technology, there's retail, 82 00:03:09.480 --> 00:03:12.070 there's all the service delivery going on at the moment. 83 00:03:12.070 --> 00:03:15.340 You know, you can do a non-technical job in there. 84 00:03:15.340 --> 00:03:16.363 Go after those. 85 00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:18.950 My fourth and final content point 86 00:03:18.950 --> 00:03:21.660 is the importance of tenacity. 87 00:03:21.660 --> 00:03:25.320 I have an expression that EQ, emotional intelligence, 88 00:03:25.320 --> 00:03:27.273 is more important than IQ. 89 00:03:28.230 --> 00:03:32.400 But tenacity is more important than both of those combined. 90 00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:34.730 This is a hustle, you've just gotta keep going 91 00:03:34.730 --> 00:03:35.683 until you drop. 92 00:03:37.580 --> 00:03:40.290 The last message I give in my actual classes 93 00:03:40.290 --> 00:03:42.260 is I show a slide. 94 00:03:42.260 --> 00:03:46.250 And that slide is simply "Be kind." 95 00:03:46.250 --> 00:03:49.180 I think in these days when things are tough, 96 00:03:49.180 --> 00:03:51.650 being kind helps all. 97 00:03:51.650 --> 00:03:54.280 The beauty of being kind is that actually 98 00:03:54.280 --> 00:03:57.070 you will get something in return. 99 00:03:57.070 --> 00:03:59.850 So good luck on this journey. 100 00:03:59.850 --> 00:04:00.763 All the best.